Like other major sports competitions, the organization of the Club World Cup has been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Originally scheduled for December, the tournament has been postponed to February to allow various Continental Cups to come to an end.
The competition will begin on Thursday February 4 with the first round matches and will end on February 11 with the final. Six clubs will be present in Qatar, which is hosting the tournament for the second year in a row: Bayern Munich (Germany), Tigres UANL (Mexico), Al-Ahly (Egypt), Palmeiras (Brazil), Ulsan Hyundai (South Korea) and Al-Duhail (Qatar).
Auckland City FC, champion of Oceania, was forced to withdraw from the competition because of travel restrictions linked to the coronavirus in force in New Zealand.
For this 17th edition, Bayern Munich is the big favorite to win their second Club World Cup after that won in 2013. Winner of the Champions League and the European Supercup, the Rekordmeister dominated European football in 2020 and hopes to continue its momentum during this global meeting.
The Bavarians will compete on February 8 in the semi-finals against the winner of the duel between Al-Ahly, African champion, and Al-Duhail, champion of Qatar, host country. The other semi-final will oppose Palmeiras, champion of South America since last Saturday, against Tigres UANL, champion of North and Central America or Ulsan Hyundai, champion of Asia.
Since 2013, the trophy has not escaped the European representative. The defending champion is Liverpool, who took over from Real Madrid in 2019, three times winner from 2016 to 2018. Corinthians (Brazil) are the last club outside Europe to win the competition after their victory against Chelsea in 2012.
This 17th edition will also be the penultimate in a 7-country format. From 2022, the Club World Cup will take place in a 24-team format and will take place every four years. This new format was due to come into force in 2021 but was postponed for a year after the one-year postponement of Euro 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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